Custom GPTs retire on 11 December: how to keep sharing yours with your team and clients

What changes on 11 December 2026

OpenAI's retirement FAQ sets 11 December 2026 as the day custom GPTs retire; after it, GPTs and their pages can't be opened. OpenAI's replacement is a ChatGPT plugin. When you migrate a GPT, its instructions become a skill inside the plugin and its connected apps come along as apps. Two things don't carry over: the model you picked, and custom Actions, which OpenAI says must be rebuilt as a connector or a custom MCP server. After you migrate, the original GPT keeps working until the retirement date but turns read-only.

Why sharing breaks after the migration

A GPT link reached anyone you sent it to. People who depended on that are reporting gaps on OpenAI's community forum:

• Migrated GPTs turned private in Business workspaces. Owners report the migrated plugin is visible only to them, with sharing greyed out, so staff lost the tool.
• No sharing outside the workspace. Business owners report they can't share with clients, students, or anyone who isn't a member.
• Plus and Pro creators lost link sharing. A 97-post thread from consultants, teachers, and course sellers says they can no longer reach clients and students.
• Skill sharing that says "success" but doesn't arrive. One Business admin reports teammates can't open shared skills, so they send ZIP files by hand.

Underneath is a plan limit. OpenAI lists Skills in ChatGPT for Business, Enterprise, Healthcare, and Edu. A skill you share there stays inside that workspace, and ChatGPT is the only app that runs it.

Step 1: Save everything from your GPT

Do this before the GPT turns read-only or disappears:

1. Open the editor. In ChatGPT, open the GPT, click its name, choose Edit GPT, and open the Configure tab.
2. Copy the text fields. Name, description, instructions, and conversation starters.
3. Download your Knowledge files. Keep the original files you uploaded; you'll paste what matters from them into the skill.
4. List the Actions. Write down which APIs the GPT called. These need a connector or an MCP server later.

Step 2: Convert the GPT into a skill

A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file: a short header with a name and a description, then the instructions. The GPT to Skill converter builds it in your browser: the GPT's name becomes the skill's name, its description and conversation starters become the line that tells the AI when to use the skill, and its instructions become the body.

AI Skill Pod keeps only the SKILL.md, so paste the parts of your Knowledge files the GPT relies on into its instructions before you convert it. If you also upload the skill straight to Claude or a coding agent, you can put the files in the folder next to SKILL.md.

Because the file follows the open Agent Skills format, the same folder runs in Claude, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and OpenCode, not only ChatGPT.

Step 3: Share it with your team and clients

You have three ways to hand the skill out. They differ in who can use it and how updates reach people.

With AI Skill Pod, each person adds the pod's MCP link to the AI they already use, once. In ChatGPT that works on Pro, Business, and Enterprise through a custom MCP connector or developer mode, and on Plus where your plan allows custom connectors. In Claude, custom connectors are available on every plan.

What to tell your clients

Clients don't need your ChatGPT workspace. Send them the invite link and one line: "Add this link to your AI as a connector, then ask for [the GPT's job] as usual." Anyone you invite can use the skill and read it, so share the instructions you'd show a client anyway, and keep private notes out of the skill.

You also see who used which skill, so you know whether a client is using what you sent.

Questions

What replaces custom GPTs after 11 December 2026?

Inside ChatGPT, OpenAI's replacement is a plugin, which carries the GPT's instructions as a skill. Outside ChatGPT, the same instructions saved as a SKILL.md run in Claude, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and OpenCode too.

How do I keep clients using my GPT after it's retired?

Convert the GPT into a skill with the free converter, put it in an AI Skill Pod, and send your client the invite link. They connect the AI they already use; a personal email is fine.

Can ChatGPT Plus users use a shared skill through an MCP connector?

OpenAI documents full custom MCP connectors for Business, Enterprise, and Edu, and read and fetch access for Pro. It doesn't list Plus. AI Skill Pod works on Plus where your plan allows custom connectors; Claude, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and OpenCode connect on any plan that allows custom MCP servers.

Do my GPT's Actions carry over?

No. OpenAI's FAQ says custom actions must be rebuilt with a supported connector or a custom MCP server. A skill holds instructions; it doesn't call APIs on its own.